How Mobile-First Marketing Is The Future of Search + Supports Local Businesses

“Every year, there are trillions of searches on Google and over half of those searches happen on mobile. And across the millions of websites using Google Analytics today, [Google is] seeing more than half of all web traffic now coming from smartphones and tablets.” With the ever growing use and desire for mobile devices, Google has and will continue to actively strengthen the role in which mobile devices search for businesses, connect users with businesses, help businesses advertise — and through an increased drive for mobile responsiveness — continue to encourage mobile-friendly websites. In fact, Google’s most recent mobile-innovations announcement is all about revolutionizing Google Adwords and analytics for mobile devices and a mobile-first world.

Here’s a quick look at what the upcoming changes are set to include and support:

Google AdWords will be completely transformed to support all things mobile.

Optimized searches and ad displays for the most popular smartphone screen sizes.

New expanded text ads in AdWords will provide more ad space so businesses can showcase more information about products and services before users click. Early testing has shown up to 20 percent increases in click-through rates. The upgrades include:

Relevant display URLs will ensure accuracy.

Description lines will become longer.

Headlines will become more prominent.

Universal App Campaigns, which enable advertisers and developers to drive more downloads of mobile apps —across Google properties — is now available on iOS

Responsive ads will reach new customers:

Ads will adapt to the diverse content across the more than two million publisher sites and apps on the Google Display Network (GDN).

Advertisers can engage consumers with ads that match the look and feel of the content they’re browsing.

Increased control, greater consumer reach, and precise optimization of campaigns — across devices. Advertisers will be able to optimize and adjust bids for specific device types, including mobile, desktop, and tablet. Not only will advertisers be able to anchor the base keyword bid to the device most valuable to a particular business — and then set bid adjustments for each of the other devices — but they will also have a wider range to adjust bids (up to +900%).

New local search ads, across Google.com and Google Maps, will help advertisers reach consumers searching for physical business locations, as nearly one-third of all mobile searches are related to location.

More branded, customized experiences for businesses on Google Maps, all of which are geared towards helping businesses increase store visits.

The reality is, mobile is the present and the future of digital marketing. Mobile devices have effectively overpowered desktop devices when it comes to search (we are a generation on the go), but mobile devices have also become something more…Mobile devices have become a person’s lifeline and local shopping guru, and they help consumers of all kinds (including ourselves) know what to do, know, go, or buy. This doesn’t mean searching for or viewing a business on a desktop or laptop — or visiting an actual storefront — has or will become obsolete. In fact, many of these mobile-first updates are intended to support and connect consumers to actual stores, in a consumer’s local vicinity. Because Google sees that location-related mobile searches are growing 50% faster than all mobile searches — and consumers are moving seamlessly between online and offline experiences — Google wants to make it easier for marketers and business owners to bridge their digital and physical worlds. Mobile is the gateway or “new front door to your store,” and “every month people visit 1.5 billion destinations related to what they searched for on Google” (Google Data, March 2016). Making mobile your new, top marketing priority is a no-brainer. Let’s do this!

Want mobile-first to be a part of your digital marketing strategy?

The team at Smarter Searches can help. Along with a variety of strategic, white-hat digital marketing strategies (that can be as mobile-focused as you desire), we only design mobile-responsive websites. There’s no extra charge for this service. Google demands mobile-responsiveness, so we believe there should be no extra charge for this pivotal part of your website.

[…] website, but omitting a mobile-friendly design can be costly and detrimental to your SEO efforts. Mobile-first marketing is here to stay, and companies must get on the bandwagon if they want to stay competitive on search […]